Bristol could become the first city in the country to elect its next MPs via an app.

Darren Jones, the Labour MP for Bristol North West, is an advocate of using more technology to boost voter numbers.

Estonia and India use electronic voting systems, while Australia has also rolled out e-voting in some regional federal elections – but Britain continues to be wedded to the pencil and paper when it comes to voting.

The snap general election last summer not only cost Theresa May her majority but also cost the country £98 million overall to administer.

UK councils had to buy 300,000 pencils and produce tens of millions of voting slips, print advice on how to mark a vote and also staff polling stations and pay for counters to work throughout the night.

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Mr Jones says e-voting could save the public purse by making voting far more efficient and also boost voter turnout.

“I want Bristol to be the first city to lead on online voting,” said the city's most recently-elected MP.

Darren Jones, Labour MP for Bristol North West

“We are a leading city in the digital sector. Online voting would mean you could do it from home and wouldn’t have to go to a ballot box. It is not just about increasing turnout but also making it more convenient for those who already vote.

“Experts say this could be done alongside traditional voting but I think we could be bolder than that and this could replace the whole thing.”

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The backbench MP, a trained consumer rights lawyer, said an online system would make it easier for those serving abroad with the armed forces to cast their vote, as well as making it simpler for people with disabilities.

Mr Jones, who became a father this week and is on paternity leave, has called for Bristol City Council to put together a report on how e-voting could be piloted at the next set of council elections.

It would then need to be submitted to the Cabinet Office for consideration.

The comments come after Mr Jones spoke out in favour of a report by WebRoots Democracy, which looks at how to encourage young people to engage with politics, during an elections event in Parliament.

Could Bristol be the first city to allow people to cast their vote using an app?

“My ask to the Cabinet Office is that we pilot this in a couple of wards so that at the next round of council elections people can vote for their councillors using their phones or computers,” Mr Jones said.

“Traditional voting would still happen but it would be interesting to compare the results and see if there was a higher turnout or a change in the demographic of voters.”

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There have been fears raised that electronic voting could lead to pressure being placed on vulnerable people to vote for a party or candidate against their will, with no polling station officials to enforce independent voting rules.

Bristol City Council is in favour of leading the first pilot for e-voting

But Mr Jones said in Estonia, where voters have been utilising e-voting to elect their governments since 2001, there is a system which allows people to change their vote right up until polling day, helping to guard against intimidation.

Bristol City Council says it is interested in being an early pilot city if the Government agrees to trial electronic voting.

But a spokesman said that only “hypothetical discussions” had taken place at City Hall, with no firm report into the pros and cons produced.

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The council spokesman said: “During discussions with the Electoral Commission we have expressed an interest in supporting testing of e-voting systems should a development programme come about in future. For the time being, that is as far as we have taken that interest.”

The Cabinet Office, which would have to approve any e-voting trial, said it did not regard electronic modes of voting as "suitably rigorous and secure".

Lord George Young, a Cabinet Office Minister in the House of Lords, said polling office staff were already bound by rules to ensure those with disabilities were able to vote.

He said: "The selection of elected representatives for Parliament is regarded as requiring the highest possible level of integrity and, at present, there are concerns that e-voting, by any means, is not seen by many to be suitably rigorous and secure, and could be vulnerable to attack or fraud.

"To provide a system over which there are doubts held by part of the electorate would not be appropriate."